overcoming writer's block and new experiences in literary criticism

I got over the writing hump, and things are now progressing. I moved past this last block in the way I often do--by starting in the middle. I am very comfortable with close reading. It is really just fun. I love it, and I think I'm good at it. So I skipped the sort of set-up that has to happen to introduce my argument and methods, jumped right into the stories, and I've filled up lots of pages quickly. I'm not finished with that stage yet, but as I have written it I feel like I have a better grasp on what I need to write in my introductory pages. So, good.

I've also had an interesting experience while writing this essay. I don't think I've ever written two essays on the same text before. There aren't a lot of opportunities for that in grad school because most of your papers have to be on a course topic. I think this is also the first time that I have produced a whole piece independent of a class. It's kind of exciting. I described this project a bit in my previous post--it's on a text that I've written about before and it's making an argument that is close to but not the same as the argument I made in a previous paper. I kind of thought that I would be able to draw large pieces from my previous essay, but that is not happening. This may sound a little simple-minded and unsophisticated, but I am really excited by the fact that I am analyzing the same stories, I have not changed my mind about what the stories mean, yet I am writing two completely separate readings. They are totally complementary and work together in interesting ways, and of course, I've read essays that work together like that before, but I've never written them. It's fun. And it's nice to have fun while working.

Another clear benefit to this, even though it's not saving me time now, is that my other essay will remain something very different from this one, so I can hopefully get both of them published without worrying about one looking like a revised version of the other. I really think that first one deserves to be published, and I'd like to send it out soon. This one is turning out to be quite good, I think, but I am not as confident. I have a fear that my essay will be cut from the collection in the end, and all of this will be for naught. But maybe I could find a home for it somewhere else if that happens. We'll see.

And now I must work. I don't want to push my luck and piss off the editor by not getting my submission in on time.

words not coming

I finished my paper last week with a grand sprint to the end, and I was pleased with it. But I still have an essay for a collection due December 15, and I can't seem to get it done. It's not so much writer's block as a complete disinterest in the task. I have already written an essay that is very close to this topic, but it does not fit the topic of the collection. So I proposed a new essay that does fit in with the collection but does not require more extensive research. The paper has to be different because I am making a completely separate argument--it's not just a revision of the other paper. And I like this argument--I think it's smart and interesting and right, and my advisor does, too. As does the editor of the collection, apparently. So why is it that I don't want to write the essay? I think what is missing here is the excitement of delving so deeply into the text and discovering things there and developing my interpretation--I feel like I've already done all that. I know exactly what I'm going to say and exactly what evidence I'm going to use because I have spent a great deal of time with this text working on the other paper and this argument is sort of adjacent to that one. It seems like I should be able to spit out this essay in record time. I'm just not into it right now. And I'm not sure how I'm going to force myself over this hump.

Potential writing crisis (pretty much) averted

So my paper I was writing for my women's studies class? Due next Tuesday, right? Wrong! Due tomorrow at 4:00 p.m.! I discovered this in class today because I'm a flake who does not look at her syllabus. Which, by the way, says in big capital letters: LATE PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. NO EXCEPTIONS!!!

Fortunately, I have fairly good work habits, so I had already done a good chunk of the paper. I also like to plan my papers to death before I write, so I had done a ton of reading and note taking and outlining. So I managed to write ten pages between 12:30 and 7:00 today and to edit my works cited page. My husband helped me out by picking up RB from daycare and taking her on a little excursion to give me a couple more hours to work before they were home (no way can I work with her around, even if my husband is home to help). So things are all better now. I just have to write a conclusion, then do some minor editing and proofreading tomorrow. And I even get to go to bed at a decent hour.

You know, it's nice to be a student in a real class sometimes. Makes me a little more sympathetic to my students.

Writing all day long

That's what I'm doing. No good blogging this week. Sorry.

why revision is hard

A Google search for "why revision is hard" led a browser here a few weeks ago--I really wonder what they were hoping to find! I was thinking about this today because I'm really tired after my intensive two days of revision on a document that is only twelve pages long. Part of what is hard is the fact that I worked for two days and it is still twelve pages long.

When we are learning to compose papers, there is a lot of emphasis, from students and teachers, on filling up pages. Papers are defined by how long they are, and progress is measured by how many pages you've written. So to work so hard on something but have no more PAGES to show for it is hard to take--it doesn't feel like progress in the way we have learned to see it. Even at a high academic level, even as an experienced writer and a teacher of writing, something remains of that idea of pages = progress. (And I have to tack on that this is relevant to understanding the difference between composing traditional papers and electronic or other media documents and how it is hard for a lot of people to move from one to the other.)

Another difficulty is that revision necessitates cutting, sometimes large amounts of text, sometimes words that you are especially attached to. My friend (I know you're reading this!) reminded me of some advice we got recently and that she has put to use. Have a "dump file" to go along with every document you produce, copy and paste everything you cut, and then date it and save it. Then your words are not deleted and you don't have the anxiety of losing something that might be valuable later or throwing away something that you have created. And maybe that would help allay the sense of moving backwards.

And revision is also hard because it requires a lot of thought work, and people (inside and outside the academy) too often fail to recognize that as real work.